{"id":5346,"date":"2026-10-04T20:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T15:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/upsc-psir-optional-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T20:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T15:16:18","slug":"upsc-psir-optional-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/upsc-psir-optional-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"UPSC PSIR Optional 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
UPSC Civil Services · Mains · PSIR Optional<\/span><\/p>\n

UPSC PSIR Optional 2026 — Question Paper<\/h1>\n

The complete paper as UPSC set it on 30 August 2026, Paper I and Paper II, transcribed from the bilingual question paper.<\/p>\n

56<\/b> questions<\/span>Paper I & Paper II<\/span><\/div>\n
2026<\/span>2025<\/a>2024<\/a>2023<\/a>2022<\/a>2021<\/a>2020<\/a>2019<\/a>2018<\/a>2017<\/a>2016<\/a>2015<\/a>PYQ Finder →<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Paper<\/span>I<\/b><\/div>\n
Section A<\/div>\n
\n
1<\/span><\/p>\n

Write on the following in about 150 words each: 10\u00d75=50<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

a<\/span>Resurgence of political theory<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Post-colonial theory of State<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>The freedom of the pike is death to the minnows.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
d<\/span>Legitimacy is always a \u2018social construct\u2019.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
e<\/span>Herbert Marcuse turned Freudianism on its head in his critical theory.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
2<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>\u201cRights of the man are separate and independent of the State.\u201d Critically analyze the perspective of Laski.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>\u201cFortune favours the brave.\u201d In the light of this statement, discuss Machiavelli\u2019s concepts of \u2018virtue\u2019 and \u2018fortune\u2019.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Discuss B. R. Ambedkar\u2019s views on democracy and State socialism.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
3<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>Mill\u2019s work was crucial to the development of liberalism, because it straddled the divide between classical and modern theories. Analyze.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Wollstonecraft developed first systematic feminist critique. Discuss her main ideas.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Discuss Gandhi\u2019s approach to property in relation to trusteeship.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
4<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>\u201cRepresentative democracy is not an absolute principle, rather a question of time, place and circumstances.\u201d Analyze the statement. Mention the major challenges to representative democracy.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>What is capability approach? Elaborate the distinctive features of the capability theory of equality.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Analyze Kautilya\u2019s Saptanga theory. How do you explain its significance in present-day politics?<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Section B<\/div>\n
\n
5<\/span><\/p>\n

Answer the following in about 150 words each: 10\u00d75=50<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

a<\/span>How did Swadeshi grow into a demand for Swaraj?<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>The Constitution of India was secular even before the word was included in the Preamble. Comment.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Identity has become an important phenomenon in the modern politics in India. Discuss.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
d<\/span>Ending proxy leadership in Panchayati Raj is a necessary step towards true grassroots democracy. Comment.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
e<\/span>Discuss the impact of liberalization on agriculture sector in India.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
6<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>From passive resistors to armed revolutionaries, the Indian Freedom Struggle has a strong imprint of women freedom fighters. Elucidate.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>When there are multiple stakeholders of power, conversation and consensus become the natural ingredients of governance. Analyze with respect to coalition politics.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Evaluate the Centre-State relation with reference to Article 293 and analyze its implications for the Indian federal structure.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
7<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>Elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and discuss how astroturfing affects the scenario.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Highlight any five constitutional provisions that restrain the powers of the executive, and evaluate their effectiveness in current times.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Map the different types of ethnic conflicts that have emerged in 21st century India.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
8<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>Discuss the causes and consequences of inter-State water disputes in India.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Critically comment on the shifts in the functioning of the Indian Parliament in the last two decades.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>\u201cThe lack of political will in preventing environmental degradation is one of the major challenges that India is experiencing.\u201d Comment.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n
Paper<\/span>II<\/b><\/div>\n
Section A<\/div>\n
\n
1<\/span><\/p>\n

Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10\u00d75=50<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

a<\/span>Criticism of the institutional approach in comparative political analysis has come up in successive waves. Comment.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Extractive capitalism<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Discuss various methods of Balance of Power.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
d<\/span>Clientilism<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
e<\/span>What role does identity and technology play in the conceptualisation of Defensive realism?<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
2<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>Discuss the factors responsible for the changing nature of states in contemporary industrial societies and explain its impact.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>International Human Rights frameworks are hostage to politics among nations. Comment.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Diplomacy has always rested on two pillars: Institutional memory and individual craft. Elaborate.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
3<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>NATO, the oldest surviving collective security system, is facing challenge of transactional coercion from its own biggest member. What future does NATO have amidst such developments?<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Theories of international relations which claim objectivity inevitably harbour subjective biases. Elucidate.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Does power transition theory reflect the dynamics of US-China relations?<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
4<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>QUAD requires more robust architecture than the summit driven mode to tide over the current challenges. Elaborate.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>How did the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) reflect geo-political division of the world during the cold war?<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>What is UNCLOS? Explain its salient features.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Section B<\/div>\n
\n
5<\/span><\/p>\n

Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10\u00d75=50<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

a<\/span>Describe India\u2019s objections to agricultural negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>What strategic options can India exercise as a response to the tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan?<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Discuss the three areas of security co-operation between India and Israel.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
d<\/span>Discuss the main features of the land-boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
e<\/span>Analyse the relevance of India-Brazil economic co-operation in strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.<\/span>10 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
6<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>Accelerating of Chinese influence across South Asia is fundamentally reshaping the region\u2019s geopolitical landscape. This is a big foreign policy challenge for India. Analyse.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>Critically evaluate the important factors of India-Maldives relations on the eve of sixty years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>\u201cThe mother of all deals\u201d is a transformative milestone in Indo-EU trade relations. Elaborate on the new Security and Defence partnership.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
7<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>How does illegal cross border migration pose challenges to India\u2019s security? Discuss the steps taken by the government in this direction and their effectiveness.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>The island of Kachchatheevu remains an intractable issue in India-Srilanka relations. Comment.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>India has adopted multi-alignment to fulfill its core values and interests in International relations. Discuss.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
8<\/span><\/div>\n
a<\/span>Critically evaluate India-Russia relations in the 21st century. How have both the countries responded to America meddling in their relations in the recent times.<\/span>20 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
b<\/span>India has recognised that West Asia is not a single contest, but a tangle of rivalries, bargains and anxieties. Comment.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n
c<\/span>Examine India and South-Africa co-operation through bilateral and multi-lateral forums.<\/span>15 marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
Questions are reproduced as printed in the English version of the paper, including UPSC’s own spellings. To search the earlier years by year, marks or syllabus topic, use the PYQ Finder<\/a>; every linked question there opens a flow snapshot and the handwritten answer.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPSC CSE Mains 2026 PSIR optional question paper, Paper I and Paper II, all 56 questions as printed in the English version of the paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"fx_brief_v2":"","fx_brief_issue":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pyqs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}